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BSc (Hons) Environmental Management and Ecology
Pye Scholarship
This scholarship, offered by the Sustainability Consultancy PYE Management, supports individuals who are ready to push their potential further and invest in their future. PYE Managements’ Founder attended University of Hertfordshire and credits her love of the subject to the course and those who supported her through her time at the university. The scholarship is designed to recognise dedication and a commitment to wanting an environmental career, giving the recipient both financial support and the confidence that a respected organisation believes in their journey.
Key information
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Typical offer:
Entry requirements -
Fees: See below
Full details -
UCAS code: F750
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Institute code: H36
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Study abroad option
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Work placement option
Find out more
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Professional accreditations
This programme is accredited by the Royal Geographical Society, the Committee of Heads of Environmental Sciences (CHES) and the education committee of the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES). CHES is the collective voice of the environmental sciences academic community and serves to enhance the quality of environmental education worldwide. A programme accredited by CHES is assured to meet high standards, contain a strong component of practical, field and theoretical activities, and has excellent opportunities for training, work experience and links to the professional environmental sector. Students enrolled on CHES accredited programmes can apply for free Student Membership of the IES and for a fast-track route to membership once they graduate, starting you on a route towards becoming a Chartered Environmentalist or Chartered Scientist.
Why choose this course?
- 1st for student satisfaction (Complete University Guide, 2027)
- Learn highly employable, field-skills at our own 40 ha environmental field station
- 9th in the UK for average graduate salary (Student Loans Company, 2024)
Our Environmental Management and Ecology degree is accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES). This degree will equip you to start tackling our biggest environmental issues. We address key themes of climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, water resource management, pollution, landscape restoration and rewilding, among others - our course will help you gain the professional and practical field skills to lead future environmental management.
We are one of a handful of UK universities with our own environmental field centre. This incredible resource gives our students access to a wide range of habitats and facilities from woodlands, grassland, lakes, ponds, rivers, parkland, glasshouses, an apiary, and on-site laboratory facilities. You will have the amenities to conduct surveys, carry out research and gain highly employable practical skills. Find out about our environmental field centre to see what we are up to.
This degree has accreditation from the Institution of Environmental Sciences, meaning our graduates are eligible to become Associate Members of the Institution.
You will have the opportunity to assist staff and local conservationists with environmental and ecological training and research. This includes training to carry out surveys that require a license such as amphibian, reptiles and small mammal trapping; bat surveys and bat box monitoring and bird ringing.
Students can get involved in ecological activities at our 40-hectare environmental field centre, such as beekeeping, bat detecting, badger monitoring and habitat management such as coppicing, etc.
We work with employers in Hertfordshire to address pressing environmental challenges, helping them save energy, reduce waste and put effective techniques in place to manage their environmental impact.
What's the course about?
The Herts Environmental Management and Ecology BSc degree will help you gain the professional and practical field skills to lead future environmental management. Whether it’s the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, environmental hazards, invasive species, food and water security, or rewilding, our teaching will equip you with the tools to help tackle these contemporary challenges. Many of these issues are fundamentally ecological in nature and hence the course has a very strong focus on ecological theory, application and management.
Fieldwork and self-driven research will be fundamental to your studies and you will develop skills and gain experience directly related to a variety of environmental career paths. Our current residential field courses take students to the Swiss Alps, Lake District, Peak District and Scottish Highlands (and many day visits to a wide range of locations). You will have access to our specialist laboratories and our environmental field centre, where you will receive extensive field and lab training. Our GIS teaching in our state-of-the-art computer facilities will equip you with cutting edge spatial skills for the digital age.
You will have the opportunity to study a wide variety of topics founded around staff expertise in freshwater ecosystems, environmental change, sustainability, climate change and agriculture. With a Herts Environmental Management and Ecology BSc degree you will gain an abundance of skills and knowledge, preparing you for your future career.
Find out more about all our courses in Geography, Environment and Planning.
Your main campus is College Lane
This is where the creative arts, science and health-related subjects are based. This means you’ll share the campus with future nurses, doctors, scientists, artists and more. You can use the common rooms to relax with friends, work out in the 24-hour gym or have a drink in our on-campus pub or cafes. We also have restaurants for you to eat in or grab something on the go. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.
What will I study?
The Herts Environmental Management and Ecology BSc degree combines classroom-based learning with highly interactive laboratory and field experience. With our environmental field station just 20 minutes from the main campus, you will have unique opportunities to put into practice in the field what you learn in the classroom. What's more, you will have abundant opportunities to do local, national, and international fieldwork as well as develop and undertake your own research projects, allowing you to gain in-demand skills for employment in environmental management and ecology.
Our modules include lectures, workshops, practicals, seminars, and field visits. This variety of teaching combined with access to state-of-the-art facilities will allow you to develop academically, professionally and as both an independent and team-worker.
Assessments on our course are widely varied and focus on developing your research, communication and digital skills. We have also consciously designed our assessments to mirror and better prepare you for the workplace. These range from written coursework, verbal presentations, practical portfolios of work and a research dissertation.
Through our personal tutoring system, you will be allocated a tutor who will be your academic mentor and first port of call on any academic or personal matters you need to discuss from day one. Staff are friendly, approachable and regularly available for students beyond timetabled sessions and one-to-one or small group support is often available.
Check out our student blogs
Alumni Stories
Josh Ward
Meet Josh Ward who has experienced a varied career since graduating. Josh is currently a Business Transformation Manager at Pendragon
Read more stories BSc (Hons) Environmental Management and Ecology| Current job role | Business Transformation Manager |
|---|---|
| Year of graduation | 2016 |
| Course of study | BSc(Hons) Environmental Management |
Making a difference as a professional in sustainability
Since graduating in 2016, Josh’s career has gone from strength to strength. He has worked at Network Rail as a project manager, at Sainsbury’s in a change management role, and is now a Business Transformation Manager at Pendragon, in the automotive industry. He says 'a varied career but with same emphasis on project and change management has allowed me to make a difference with my work and ensures no two days are the same'.
He is very excited about his current role at Pendragon, and says, ‘I believe the automotive industry is a great place to be for sustainability professionals like me. Electric vehicles and changing personal mobility trends will dramatically alter the industry over the next 10 years.’
Josh has been able to draw upon the skills he learnt as part of his Environmental Management degree throughout his career. He says 'being able to understand complex information and processes and present relevant findings is core to my role. The skills I developed in written and verbal presentation of information and data analysis, have very much helped me'.
Embracing the University experience
He chose to study at Herts for the wide variety of choice allowing him to explore and specialise in areas which aligned with his personal interests and professional goals.
Josh also says that, ‘it was clear that industry placements were not only supported at Herts, but actively encouraged as part of wider learning and personal development. Utilising the option for a year of work experience has proven invaluable and helps to tackle the difficulty most students face - needing experience to get a job, but needing a job to get experience!'
Herts also offered Josh much more than a degree. He says, ‘The best thing for me was the wider life experience. As a geographer fieldwork is an important aspect of your learning, and I enjoyed trips to Switzerland and the Lake District. I was also lucky enough to be awarded a small bursary to part-fund a study abroad opportunity in Brazil. My stand out memory was the view of the alps from Hohsaas, Switzerland where we broke through the cloud line at 3,000m above sea level.’
Alumni Stories
Nadine Bowles-Newark
Meet Nadine Bowles-Newark who pursued her passion for the environment as her career. She is currently a Programme Officer with UNEP-WCMC.
Read more stories BSc (Hons) Environmental Management and Ecology| Current job role | Programmer Officer |
|---|---|
| Year of graduation | 2012 |
| Course of study | BSc (Hons) Environmental Management |
University life and experience
Nadine started her studies at the University of Hertfordshire as a mature student after having gained over ten years in retail management. She initially chose the University due to its close proximity to her home as well as the course content. The course enabled her to gain ‘real-world’ experience during her studies as it contained a practical element in the coursework.
She decided to go back to university as she wanted to move into a new field. She states that ‘changing career was a big step’ but throughout her studies she felt extremely supported as a mature student while studying at the University.
Future aspirations
Nadine is currently a Programme Officer with UNEP-WCMC. In her role she manages several multi-million-dollar international projects which bring scientific evidence on biodiversity and ecosystem services to decision makers across government sectors. In the future she hopes to continue to work at an international level in project, which has an impact on biodiversity conservation.